Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157)

First introduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in March 2003, this bill exempts libraries and booksellers from section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which allows the FBI to conduct searches of personal records with minimal supervision from a secret court, and without having to present probable cause.

Though this Act currently has 145 co-sponsors, the House Judiciary Committee has refused to hold a hearing on it. In early July 2004, Rep. Sanders, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), introduced the Freedom to Read Amendment to the Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations (CJS) Bill, which would have halted the funding that allows the government to conduct searches of bookstore and library records under section 215. The Amendment fell just one vote short of passing after a last-minute lobbying effort by the House Republican leadership persuaded enough Republicans to change their votes-the vote was held open for an additional 15 minutes and ended in a 210-210 tie and defeat.

The Freedom to Read Act was reintroduced in March 2005 at a Campaign for Reader Privacy press conference at Capitol Hill.

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Civil Liberties Restoration Act (H.R. 4591)

This Act was introduced Congress on June 16, 2004, by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Congressmen Howard Berman (D-CA) and William Delahunt (D-MA).

The CLRA amends the PATRIOT Act to end secret hearings; ensure due process for detained individuals; establish an independent immigration court; end special registration for immigrant communities; ensure access to evidence; mandate reports on data mining; and limit secret seizures of records.

For more information:
Rights Working Group


Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act (S. 1552)

This bill was introduced August 1, 2003, by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and was co-sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The bill amends the PATRIOT Act to require law enforcement to obtain a court order before conducting electronic surveillance, thereby limiting the government’s ability to conduct "sneak-and-peak" searches.

For more information:
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Center for Democracy and Technology


Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act (S. 1507)

This bill was introduced on July 31, 2003, by Sens. Feingold (D-WI), Bingaman (D-NM), Kennedy (D-MA), Cantwell (D-WA), Durbin (D-IL), Wyden (D-OR), Corzine (D-NJ), Akaka (D-HI), and Jeffords (I-VT), as a companion bill to the Freedom to Read Protection Act.

The bill limits the federal government's access to library, bookseller, medical, and other sensitive, personal information by requiring the FBI to show how the information it seeks relates to a terrorism or foreign intelligence investigation before the information can be obtained.

For more information:
Senator Feingold’s web site


Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act of 2003 (H.R. 3352)

This bill was introduced by Butch Otter (R-ID) as a companion bill to the Senate’s SAFE Act. On March 8, 2004, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced her co-sponsorship of the Act.

The Act amends the provisions of the PATRIOT Act that allow the FBI to conduct surveillance of Americans with limited judicial involvement. The bill requires the FBI to show probable cause in order get a FISA court order for a search and prevents them from using NSLs to obtain information from bookstores and libraries. The bill also schedules section 505, which outlines the authority of the NSL, to sunset in 2005.

For more information:
Electronic Frontier Foundation


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